Plans to expand a suspended oil site in Dorset and restart production are unlikely to have “significant environmental impacts”, council planners ruled today.

Egdon Resources wants to extend its site at Waddock Cross, drill new wells and produce oil for 15 years.

The company has estimated a new horizontal well drilled from the site could extract 500-800 barrels of oil a day. If this happened, Waddock Cross would be the third most productive oil site in the UK onshore.

In a submission to Dorset Council last month, Egdon argued that a planning application on the proposals did not need a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA).

It said:

“The wellsite has been in place since 1982.

“Since that date, the Site has not given rise to any known significant environmental effects.”

Less than three weeks later, the council agreed.

It said “the proposed development is not likely to result in significant environmental impacts” and “an EIA is not required in this instance”.

Council planner, Yvonne Wiacek, said:

“The greatest potential for nuisance is likely to be as a result of noise, dust and emissions. It is considered unlikely that the proposed development will result in significant adverse effects from the additional wells due to existing mitigation measures which are in place.

“The use of standard best practice construction methods is considered sufficient in preventing a significant risk of accidents during the works for development of this scale and type.”

Details

The Waddock Cross site, nearly 10km from Dorchester, has not produced oil since 2014. Its planning permission expired in June 2023.

It is next to a sensitive ancient woodland, the Oakers Wood Site of Special Scientific Interest, which supports rare lichens. The protected Dorset Heathlands are within 865m of the site. An important chalk stream, the River Frome, also a SSSI, is 650m away.

Egdon Resources submitted a planning application in May 2023, seeking permission to keep Waddock Cross open until 2033 and continue consent for two new wells and a sidetrack permitted in 2013. That application, which was opposed by Affpuddle and Turnerspuddle Parish Council and residents, is still being considered by planners.

A Dorset Council spokesperson said Egdon had been asked for a more detailed assessment of ecological impacts of an extension to 2033. When that is received a planning officer will make a recommendation on the application.

Today’s ruling clears the way for a second planning application, without the expense and work of an EIA.

Correspondence between Egdon and council planners reveals that the company wants to produce oil from the Bridport Sandstone reservoir. Its proposals include:

• Drilling a sidetrack well, to be called WX-4
• Drilling a further two boreholes, WX-5 and WX-6 for the appraisal and production of oil
• Extending the footprint of the site
• Retaining the site for 15 years of oil production

If approved, the site would increase in size from 1.46ha to 2.09ha. It would operate two production wells and a water reinjection well at the same time, instead of the current one production well and one reinjection well.

The extension means the site exceeds the threshold of 1ha, one of the criteria for an EIA.

But Ms Wiacek gave the following reasons for why she thought an EIA was “less likely” to be required:

• The extension itself is 0.627ha, which is “significantly less than the threshold”
• Two older wells at Waddock Cross, WX-3 and WX-2, would be plugged and abandoned as part of the proposal
• Despite increased traffic from heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), there would be no changes to the existing access track or HGFV delivery hours
• Standard best practice would manage any dust or surface water runoff “sufficient in alleviating potential nuisance, for the purposes of EIA”
• Emissions from diesel generators used to drill the wells could be restricted by conditions
• Electricity from the grid supply to the site would be used during production, minimising generator emissions “to a short time”
• Although lichens in Oakers Wood are sensitive to air pollution, previous lichen studies have found “no adverse impact” from existing construction and operational activities
• HGV movements would be controlled by planning conditions, reducing the impact of nitrogen deposition from diesel emissions on nearby Dorset heathland protected areas
• Although there is a risk to the River Frome from nearby watercourses, there were “measures already in place” to contain spillages and emissions
• Using an existing well site would help minimise impacts

Neither the screening request nor the response refer to emissions from burning any oil produced at Waddock Cross.

The issue of these downstream or scope 3 emissions is issue the subject of a landmark Supreme Court challenge by Sarah Finch and Weald Action Group against Surrey County Council over oil production at Horse Hill. A ruling is expected later this year.

Three phases

The screening request from Egdon and the council’s response revealed proposals for three phases of work:

Phase 1

• Install groundwater monitoring boreholes.
• Drill new well WX-4
• If data was positive, drill “back to back” a horizontal sidetrack (WX-4Z) from WX-4.
• Workover existing WX-2 injector for water reinjection
• Production test on new well
• Production from WX-4Z and water reinjection to WX-2

Duration: 62 weeks

HGV numbers: 814

Average HGV visits per day: 3

Phase 2

• Extend site into leased land.
• Drill WX-5 as a new water injector well
• Decommission WX-3 well
• Production from WX4Z and water reinjection to WX-5

Duration: 40 weeks
HGV numbers: 682
Average HGV visits per day: 4

Phase 3

• Decommission WX-2, WX-4Z and WX-5
• Site restoration

Duration: 17 weeks
HGV numbers: 566
Average HGV visits per day: 7

*Egdon’s submission said these figures excluded production periods.

Documents

Egdon Resources screening request

Dorset Council s EIA screening response

Updated 8/9/23 to include information on the May 2023 application